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Spider-Man/Black Cat: The Evil That Men Do
Spider-Man/Black Cat: The Evil That Men Do is a six-issue comic book limited series published by Marvel Comics starring the superhero Spider-Man and his ally, the cat burglar known as the Black Cat. The title of the book is an allusion to William Shakespeare's Julius Caesar. In the play, Mark Antony says, with regards to Caesar, "The evil that men do lives after them; The good is oft interred with their bones." Publication history Writer/director Kevin Smith began writing the Spider-Man/Black Cat: The Evil That Men Do limited series in 2002. Smith was originally going to take over writing Amazing Spiderman after the completion of the mini-series, which would serve as a lead-in. After the third issue, the series went on an unplanned hiatus until 2005, when Smith revealed he had finally finished writing the scripts.http://viewaskew.com/theboard/viewtopic.php?t=36769 Smith has stated "While I have zero defense for my lateness (particularly when folks like Brian Michael Bendis turn out great stories in multiple books on a monthly basis), I will say this: It's a much better story now than it would've been had I completed it back in '02." The delay caused Smith to be heavily criticised, being considered both lazy and unethical for having been paid for something he had failed to deliver. However, in January 2006 Smith revealed that due to his own failure to submit the relevant paperwork, Marvel's then-newly computerized system for paying writers for their scripts had not created the relevant cheque. Due to Smith's failure to discover this until after the completion of the series, he did not in fact receive any payment at all for his work until it had been finished; in his own words, "Justice, in some weird manner, has been served, I guess." Story summary The Black Cat, the former lover of Spider-Man, returns to New York City. "The Evil That Men Do" Spider-Man is looking for a missing woman named Tricia and investigating the death of Donald Phillips, an honor roll student who died from a heroin overdose, despite a lack of evidence that he had ever used heroin. The webswinger confronts a drug dealer. Via the criminal, he learns of Mr. Brownstone (a name that is itself a slang term for heroin), who is rumoured to like young men, and a lackey, Hunter Todd. The Black Cat, also looking for Tricia, meets up with Spider-Man. The two confront Hunter, his girlfriend dies of a drug overdose and a knocked-over phone has the voice of a man revealed to be Mr. Brownstone. "A Ruse By Any Other Name..." A man named "Garrison Klum" turns off a cellular phone and enters a stage at Carnegie Hall. Spider-Man and Black Cat crash a party being held there as they confront and defeat the villain 'Scorpia'. While Klum mugs for the camera, Spider-Man begins to suspect he is Mr. Brownstone. A man named 'Pavan' is revealed to be working for Spider-Man. "Hate Crimes" Spider-Man and Black Cat learn that Scorpia hired by Alberto Ortega, the head of a local drug syndicate, to assassinate Klum. Klum kills the Ortega gang via heroin overdoses. Black Cat leaves Spider-Man after a disagreement on how to handle the case. When she confronts Klum herself, it is revealed that he was a mutant as he uses his mutant powers to teleport a small quantity of heroin directly into her heart. He then starts cutting open her costume with the intention of raping her. "A Study in Scarlet" Felicia Hardy waits in prison at Ryker's Island, accused of Klum's murder. Matt Murdock, also known as Daredevil, tries to convince Felicia to undergo a rape test; if she had been raped, Klum's death would be ruled as self-defense but Felicia denies being raped. Spider-Man and Daredevil decide to break Felicia out of prison. Francis Klum, Garrison Klum's lackey and younger brother, has already done so. He forces Daredevil and Spider-Man to fight, then teleports away with Felicia, leaving Daredevil and Spider-Man dazed. "Trickle Down" Spider-Man and Daredevil decide to contact Nightcrawler of the X-Men since he possesses similar teleportation powers as Klum. Francis, elsewhere, explains his past to Felicia. Over the years, Francis was consistently sexually abused by his older brother, who used him and his own talents to gain power. Garrison's main focus was to deliver drugs into his client, who paid heavily for no needle tracks. Francis had killed Garrison by teleporting inside his body and exploding the body from the inside out in order to save Felicia. In attempting to have Francis turn himself in, Felicia reveals she too had once been raped. "One in Four" In flashbacks, Felicia was a freshman student at Empire State University who had a boyfriend who raped her in his dorm room. Not reporting the incident to authorities and refusing to become "just another statistic," she trains in fighting techniques, intent on revenge on her attacker. Ryan, her rapist, dies in a car accident before she could do anything. The story nearly convinces Francis but Spider-Man and Daredevil show up. A fight erupts over misunderstandings. Francis falls from a great height but teleports away before hitting the water. Later, a disfigured Francis swears his revenge on Spider-Man as well as Black Cat, enlisting the aid of the The Kingpin, who sells him the suit formerly worn by Mysterio. Collected editions The series has been collected into a single volume: *''Spider-Man/Black Cat: The Evil that Men Do'' (176 pages, hardcover, May 2006, ISBN 0-7851-1095-X, softcover, May 2007, ISBN 0-7851-1079-8) References External links *Spider-Man/Black Cat: The Evil That Men Do reviews @ spiderfan.org Category:Comics